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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579119">Color Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RENielsen/pseuds/Mythicalinky'>Mythicalinky (RENielsen)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rhett &amp; Link</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Digital Art, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Self-Harm, Soulmates, Suicidal Thoughts, trigger warning</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:13:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579119</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RENielsen/pseuds/Mythicalinky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All the tales say this: Whatever hurt you, be it sickness, heartache, or pain, will bloom on the skin of your soulmate. A way to counteract the bad with something beautiful.<br/>For most this is all well and fine. Your soulmate will fall and bruise a knee, and a flower will turn up on your skin. It’s pretty, it’s fun, it’s a way to be connected even when you’re far away from each other. Rhett has been covered head to toe in flowers since he was six years old. He hates them more than anything; they’re a constant reminder that he still hasn’t found and saved his soulmate from whatever is hurting them.</p>
<p>The one where two broken boys find each other.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Color Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TRIGGER WARNING: This deals with heavy themes! Do NOT read if you could in any way be triggered by the following: Mentions of the aftermath of abuse this both in childhood and adulthood but also a scene that involves abusive behavior in action both physical and verbal, mentions of self-harm and scars, and heavy depression. There's mention of suicidal thoughts, though these aren't a big theme in the story. There's also a digital artwork that will showcase some of these triggers at the top of the fic. Please do take care of yourself first and foremost!</p>
<p>This will have a happy ending, so should this worry you rest assured. If you have any questions before reading, please ask, I'll do my best to answer</p>
<p>Happy reading if you choose to do so, hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p>
<p>"There’s another flower on you,” Stevie says as she settles down on the floor beside the couch. Her fingertips trace the new flower on his wrist. His arms are almost totally covered in one colorful flower after the other. Barely any skin is left untouched. He’s got a whole bunch under his clothes as well, hidden away from everyone’s eyes. Some of them fade away after a while. Most become pale and stay there for good. So often Rhett worries what that means. Then again, Rhett’s life is one big worry for his soulmate. Sometimes he thinks that he won’t ever get to meet them. That it’ll be too late, that the bad thing that won’t slip his mind finally happens. Sometimes it must have been such a close call.</p>
<p>Her voice is too soft, and her eyes filled with worry. Her own skin is bare except a single flower on her knee where her soulmate and now girlfriend scarred her knee from a fall when she was little.</p>
<p>“It’s been there since last night,” Rhett murmurs, wanting nothing else than bury himself back underneath his blanket and for her to leave him alone. He loves her a lot, but it’s too much having to have this conversation with her right now. Unfortunately, he’s staying on her couch currently and it’s probably too much to ask of her to leave him alone, especially when she knows how much distress he goes through every time a new flower turns up.</p>
<p>“How bad was it?”</p>
<p>He doesn’t say anything in return, can’t get the words over his lips. Can’t tell her that he hasn’t been able to sleep all night and that it felt like his wrist broke. Rhett’s gotten too accustomed with broken bones considering he’s never had any himself. He’s been too careful with himself for that to happen. He can’t remember the last time he had as much as a small bruise. He can’t let that happen. Not since he at the age of six tripped over his own feet, fell face-first into the sidewalk and ended up with a sore nose. Not long after he’d been covered in flowers all over his body. His mum had been horrified and Rhett had barely been able to walk for days. She hadn’t told him what it meant then, only that he had to take really good care of himself from then on. Rhett figured it out eventually, when flowers kept blossoming on his skin, more so than on anyone else Rhett ever knew. When he started receiving pitying looks, Rhett learned quickly to cover up the worst of it, always wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants even in the summer heat.</p>
<p>“I wish I could keep them safe.” Rhett meets her eyes for only a second, retreats his gaze too quickly because he can’t stand the look in her eyes.</p>
<p>“I know you do, darling.”</p>
<p>She sits there with him for a while. None of them says anything. Rhett knows that she wants him to get up, to eat something, take a shower, go outside. Live his life. He knows, and he wishes it didn’t feel impossible. He used to spend so much time looking for his soulmate. Hours upon hours trying to find them. Years upon years. The world is a big place though, and most people live all their life without getting any closer to their soulmate than the flowers on their skin. Rhett used to have so much hope. Now he barely leaves the comfort and safety from being wrapped up underneath a blanket. The constant ache became too much for him to handle while still going on about his life, so he just… stopped.</p>
<p>They eat takeaway for dinner, and at some point, Stevie turns on the television, though Rhett doesn’t really watch it, and just eats his food. Mostly for her benefit rather than his own. He’s lucky to have her, knows that without her he’d either be without home or food, or he’d be back taking up space and money that his parents really can’t afford to give him. They would in a heartbeat, but Rhett would hate himself even more than he already does. He hates himself for doing it with Stevie too, but the younger woman had been insistent. After he’d lost his job and not been able to pay for anything anymore, she had threatened to pay for his rent, bills and food if he was so set on not living with her.</p>
<p>“<em>You’re not living on the streets!</em>” and that had been it. Now he’s smooching of on her space and money and the only thing she expects in return is for him to eat what she puts down in front of him and his once a week appointment with a therapist.</p>
<p>He adores Stevie more than any other person he’s met. She’s been a bright light in his life since they met in college, him there on a scholarship and here there with dreams of working in the film industry. And she did it, of course, she did, and she’s doing so well with it that Rhett has no doubt that it won’t take her long to be one of the big names.</p>
<p>“Cassie has offered to drive you tomorrow,” Stevie says, and Rhett shimmers with self-loathing. Stevie usually goes out of her way to be able to drive him to therapy, but she’s got a big important meeting tomorrow, and Rhett promised her that he could do it on his own. They both know that he can’t though. He never seems to be quite able to get there without anyone holding him up on it.</p>
<p>It’s been months. Two to be exact since he lost his job. Four since the last time Rhett was sure he was going to lose his soulmate. It’d been too much after then to keep pretending. The selfish parts of Rhett whisper how much better he would have been, had he never been connected to another person; how much he hates the constant reminder that he’s not supposed to be alone. How sometimes when he’s furthest down he almost wishes that he had lost his soulmate simply to no longer have to live through the brief pain and then have another flower turn up on his skin. That’s the part none of the fairy tales talks about. How it isn’t just pretty flowers, but how for every injury he feels the pain too. Only while the flower forms, though, and after it’s just a reminder of the pain his soulmate is still going through. He feels so alone, and with that comes the guilt, the pain, of knowing how alone his soulmate is. Anger, hurt, guilt, pain, love, remorse; the feelings move through him in a constant ring, never giving him a break. Never being able to truly hate his soulmate, mostly hating himself. Sometimes wishing that it was him that wasn't alive. He never tells Stevie about those thoughts. Doesn't want to worry her needlessly. Not more than she already is, anyways. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he just says instead of protesting that she doesn’t have to.</p>
<p>“Good, I’ll tell her. Sleep well, Rhett.” She takes the container with food from his hands, kisses him on his cheek and puts out the light on the way out of the room.</p>
<p>Cassie comes home not long after, and she whispers good night to him when she sees he’s still awake and then sneaks down the hall to join Stevie in the bedroom.</p>
<p>Rhett just stares up into the ceiling, waiting for something to happen. Evenings tend to be particularly bad, like last night when the flower on his wrist turned up. Like the night before that, where several flowers turned up on his thighs. Rhett knows those will turn pale rather than disappear. His legs and arms are full of pale flowers. Nothing seems to be happening, though, which in itself is even more worrying than the alternative. A single bruise or two seem to be better than the alternative; the constant waiting that usually follows a harshness that takes Rhett’s breath away. He hopes it just means that his soulmate is hiding away after the broken wrist from last night, but he hasn’t got much hope.</p>
<p>“Goodnight, bo,” he whispers, hopes, <em>begs,</em> that by some miracle his soulmate will know that he’s thinking about them, caring about them, hoping they’re okay.</p>
<p>Rhett dreams of dark hair that has already begun to turn grey. He dreams of the bluest eyes that would be so beautiful if they weren’t dull with only fear taking away from it. He dreams of bruises and scars and broken bones. He wakes up shaking, unable to go back to sleep. It’s two in the morning, and he spends the rest of the night listening to the rare event of rain falling against the windows.</p>
<p>
  <strong>🌺</strong>
</p>
<p>“How are we feeling this week, Rhett?” his therapist, Evan, asks, looking at him over a pair of thin glasses. Sometimes Rhett wonders if they’re only there to make the man look more the role because he never seems to use them, always looking over the glass rather than through it.</p>
<p>His answer is a shrug. His stomach still feeling the phantom pain from a bunch of flowers that turned up on his skin this morning. Whoever had done it had been angry. Furious.</p>
<p>“Have you achieved any of the things we talked about last week?”</p>
<p>All he wants to do is shrug again, shrug his way through the entire appointment. He doesn’t understand at all how this is supposed to be helping or why he’s here. <em>It’s for Stevie!</em> his mind supplies, and that’s true. For Stevie, so he hopefully won’t be a burden forever. For Cassie so she can have her girlfriend back. For his soulmate so maybe one day he’ll be able to take care of them if he’s ever lucky enough to find them. Maybe, he’ll even concede, it’s also for himself, so maybe life once again can be more than one painful moment after the other.</p>
<p>“I took a shower this morning. And I’m going grocery shopping with Cassie when we’re done.”</p>
<p>Rhett still regrets agreeing to that, but both Stevie and Cassie had looked so hopeful that he couldn’t have felt more like a dick of he’d tried. So, he’s said yes, even though the only thing he wants to do is go back under his blanket. Maybe he could sleep for more than a few hours without being woken up by nightmares. Instead, he’s going to be living one for the entire shopping trip.</p>
<p>There are always so many pitying looks when he goes out in public. Everyone knows what that many flowers mean, even when he does his best to cover the majority of them up. He can cover his body with clothes, but the flowers have an annoying tendency to show up even through the thickest layer of make-up. Through the first few weeks after the flowers started to show up, his mother had tirelessly tried just that. Had made him sit in front of her for almost an hour every morning, as she did her best to make them disappear from sight. Before he’d even sat his foot on school grounds the flowers would have broken through the make-up.</p>
<p>Evan congratulates him, says ‘small victories’ with a smile. Rhett just watches him dully. It shouldn’t be a victory to take a shower or go to the store. Not even when it’s been a week since the last shower and over a month since he last put a foot in a grocery store. He says as much, but Evan just gently reminds him that every person is going to be in a different place in their life, and right now for Rhett this is a victory and he’s allowed to look at it as such.</p>
<p>They talk for a while longer, but Rhett is feeling antsy and he’d rather be anywhere else than here. He just keeps watching the clock ticking, waiting for it to be time for him to leave. Eventually, it is, and he says goodbye and drags himself back down to the car where Cassie is waiting for him.</p>
<p>“Still okay to go?” she asks when he gets in beside her.</p>
<p><em>No,</em> his mind screams, but he still forces out a smile and a “Sure, of course.”</p>
<p>She sighs, probably knowing he’s lying, but she hasn’t got much time to drop him off back at the apartment and then go shopping, as she has an important thing soon and Stevie won’t have the time to go today either. Rhett does the math with her in his own head. Knows that they need to go today as the only two capable people also have busy days the next few. In the end, she just accepts his answer and starts driving, all the while sending him worrying looks. She too was there for his low point this morning, she and Stevie both had been woken up by him screaming. Curled up, trying to protect his stomach from kicks that didn’t hit him in the first place.</p>
<p>Stevie had almost cancelled her meeting, the only thing keeping her from doing so was the way he begged her to go. Rhett wouldn’t have been able to live with the self-hatred if he’d kept her from something that means so much to her.</p>
<p>The Californian sun beats against the windows, and Rhett leans his forehead against the glass, soaking in the warmth. He’s almost drifted off when Cassie parks in front of a Walmart. For a moment he considers pretending to be asleep, maybe she would go in without him then. <em>Fight for you small victory,</em> he reprimands himself, and though it feels impossible, limps heavy and uncooperative, he somehow forces himself to get out of the car with her.</p>
<p>As soon as they step a foot inside, Rhett immediately regrets his decisions to come once again. It’s a nightmare brought to life, and he squints at the dizzying way everyone quickly moves through the store. Like everyone is going a hundred miles an hour while he’s almost not moving at all. Someone brushes past him, and Rhett flinches hard, almost recoiling back out of the door.</p>
<p>“Steady,” Cassie says, slowly and gently taking his hand. Cassie knows what’s up. Cassie at least tries to keep under the speed limit, which is still too fast, too much, but better.</p>
<p>It takes him a moment, but then he’s able to follow her through the store, hopelessly trailing after her like a lost puppy.</p>
<p>Someone passes them, almost brushes him through the aisle, but before Rhett can even react the other person seem to flinch away all on his own to avoid running into him. He’s wearing an oversized hoodie that while not impossible, still stands out in the sea of shorts, t-shirts, and sandals. Much like Rhett’s own long sleeves do. He walks funny too, like he’s hurrying, but can’t for some reason. A speed Rhett can reason with.</p>
<p>Cassie tucks him along, and Rhett shakes himself out of staring down the aisle which seems to be back to blurry. Why the man deserved a moment of clarity in Rhett, he doesn’t know, but for just that place in time it felt like he could breathe like he was alive.</p>
<p>Another moment; dark silver speckled hair.</p>
<p>Big sunglasses indoors.</p>
<p>Pale skin.</p>
<p>Small in comparison to Rhett, but tall nonetheless.</p>
<p>Rhett zones in and out and barely notices the way through the store or when Cassie asks him a question. It’s almost a surprise when they reach the cashier. He’s still utterly exhausted when their bags is packed and Cassie hands him one of them to carry out to the car while she takes the other two. She most likely handed him the lightest of the bunch as well. Only gave him one at all because she only has two hands. Rhett is <em>useless. </em></p>
<p>They reach the door. Another moment. Slender hands, shaking badly. Juggling four heavy-looking bags. Rhett knows it’s going to happen before it does. The man stumbles over his own feet and the bags fly out of his arms. They’re filled with more alcohol than food, and the glass bottles break when they hit the floor. The paper bags become soaked, and liquid seeps over the ground. Everything slows down, people looking at the man with pitying eyes, as he frantically falls to his knees and tries to gather the remains, though most of the products probably already are ruined. Without thinking Rhett gently puts his own bag down on the floor and goes to help the other even as no one else makes a move to.</p>
<p>Rhett’s jeans get wet and sticky at the knees and his nose wrinkles at the smell.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he says, and reaches out to touch the other man’s hand. The shaking has become severe, and his breathing is harsh. Three things happen at once. The man flinches at the touch and drops the few items he’s managed to pick up, particularly the few bottles not broken by the fall.</p>
<p>Rhett’s mind goes haywire. <em>You, you, you! I know you! You! It’s you!</em></p>
<p>Time starts moving again, and someone screams in fury. A middle-aged man, like lightning, makes a beeline towards them.</p>
<p>“YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING, HOPELESS LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT. CAN’T EVER DO ANYTHING RIGHT,” he roars, spit flying out of his mouth, face turning red as he continues hurling abuse at the younger man, who’s curled in on himself still sitting on the floor.</p>
<p>Rhett is utterly dumbfounded. He shouldn’t have been. After all, his whole body is proof of just some of the things this man must be putting the other through.</p>
<p>And then the man must decide than verbal abuse isn’t enough. A fist moves towards the younger man, catching his cheek hard enough to make the sunglasses go flying. The younger man whimpers and Rhett gasps. His hand immediately catches his own cheek, where he just knows another flower is going to show up. The fist raises again, and Rhett just can’t watch it happen again. He leaps over, covering the man with his own body just in time to take the blow that comes. It hits his shoulder, and the older man acts in a frenzy. He gets three hard kicks in, almost getting Rhett’s spine before someone has the sense to pull him away.</p>
<p>The man yells, eyes crazed, as he fights against the people holding him away. Rhett thinks he hears someone say that the police is on their way, but he can’t make himself move. Not to get up nor to ask if he heard right. He’s trembling, but somehow still manages to hold himself up, still shielding the younger man -<em>his soulmate!-</em> from sight and from touch from anyone but himself.</p>
<p>And he looks down, sees the way the man is already looking right up at him, eyes blown from fear or from the shock of finding his soulmate in such a way Rhett doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter either way. Rhett will look after him from now on. He’s his to protect. His to take care of.</p>
<p>“You’re safe,” he croaks out, and the other breaks down. Sobbing, he clutches close to Rhett. Grabs and grabs and Rhett does the same in return.</p>
<p>He pets his hair and doesn’t wince when the locks are more grease and tangles than anything else. Just hushes him and keep up gently holding him. Rhett’s not sure he’ll ever be able to let him go, not now that he’s finally able to feel him under his hands. Real in a new way; a way that isn’t just pain and hurt, but also a touch of joy even when he can still hear the abuse hurled their way.</p>
<p>And the thing is, he doesn’t remember asking. It’s still the most breathtaking moment, when the other through a sob looks him into the eyes and whimpers out, “Link.” It’s so right. Something clicking into place in Rhett’s head. Them, soulmate, his other half, all the words he’s used in his head, they all become the one word. Link. A regime shift in his head. The best one possible.</p>
<p>Slowly and all at once, sirens fills the space between slurred murmurs. Everything slows down. It’s more separate and fractured clips than anything clear and sustainable. Rhett blinks.</p>
<p>Blink. Police officers get a handle of the situation. The older man leaves in handcuffs.</p>
<p>Blink. EMT’s comes rushing inside. Rhett doesn’t know when someone had the sense to call for medical attention.</p>
<p>Blink. People speaking. To him. To Link. The words are blurred, and Rhett can’t answer. Link doesn’t either. He thinks that might be the only voice that wouldn’t just sound like a rush in his ears.</p>
<p>Blink. Blink. Someone trying to separate them. Rhett holds on even more as Link starts freaking out.</p>
<p>Blink. An ambulance. Rushed voices. Link’s hand in his own. Eventually letting the exhaustion of the day take over. Falling asleep with his forehead pressed against their interwoven hands for the duration of the drive.</p>
<p>
  <strong>🌸</strong>
</p>
<p>They expect internal damage, at least a few cracked ribs. Maybe something worse. Every time they try to separate them, Link become frantic and, in the end, they have to sedate him to even be able to examine him. Rhett gets a long explanation. Something about tests and having to take pictures. The worst is being told to stay, that he can’t come where they’re taking Link.</p>
<p>Stevie and Cassie find him in the meantime. Both are too shocked to say much, but Rhett revels in their company. He’s not sure he would have been able to be left completely alone right now.</p>
<p>“You found him,” Stevie says, hugging him close. Rhett closes his eyes, breathes in the familiar smell of her hair.</p>
<p>The hours are so long, as they just sit there and waits with no word from anyone. At the start of the wait a nurse comes by to check him over, but other than the new forming bruises there isn’t anything wrong with him. She doesn’t know anything about Link’s condition. She leaves with an apology.</p>
<p>When finally, the wait is over, Link is being rolled into the room, still fast asleep. He’s been stitched up where he had a few deep scratches and there’s a cast on his wrist.</p>
<p>“He’s been lucky,” the doctor says. “There doesn’t seem to be any internal bleeding, only a few bruised ribs. He’ll have to take it easy for a while, but he will live. Had he been jostled too much or hit anymore this could have looked vastly different. His wrist is broken too, and there are several places where it suggests broken bones that haven’t healed correctly, but it’s hard to say how much those bother him before he’s capable to tell us himself. Healing will be a long, tough journey. Not only physically I would suspect. Abuse victims need a lot of support and patience.”</p>
<p>The last bit is obviously a warning to him, but Rhett hasn’t lived all his life watching every step he takes, avoiding sports and playing with other kids, been so careful with himself that he almost lived packed into bubble wrap to not be able to give Link the support, patience, love, and whatever else in the world he would need. Rhett hasn’t looked for him, longed for him, hoped every day that he would be okay, just to throw him away the second he gets him. He might not know him yet, but part of Rhett has loved him since he was six years old. Since the very first memory of their connection to each other.</p>
<p>“And I’ll give it to him. It won’t be easy, but I will.” He needs it just as much as Link do. Needs to, for once, be able to be there. So many years of watching the result of abuse without being able to do anything. Mornings and days and nights spend tucking his own hair in frustration as more and more flowers turned up on his skin.</p>
<p>She nods at him, tells them that she’ll be back later to check on Link, before leaving them alone. Rhett is at Link’s side immediately, sitting by the bed holding his hand in his own. Stevie and Cassie both stay with them for a while too, but when Link starts showing signs of waking up, they make to leave to not overwhelm him with too many new people. Stevie promises to be back in a few hours with something to eat and drink for them. Rhett gets up for the briefest of moments to hug them goodbye, but he’s back at Link’s side with less than a minute of time passed. He barely notices the two of them gathering up their things and leaving the room.</p>
<p>It takes about half an hour of uneasy twitching before dazed blue eyes finally open and look up into his own.</p>
<p>“Hello,” he whispers, trying to make himself small and not intimidating in any way.</p>
<p>“Thought you were a dream,” Link slurs, blinking several times as to make sure that it isn’t just his mind making things up.</p>
<p>Carefully Rhett squeezes the hand not in a cast, a nonverbal promise that he really is here; that it’s not a dream or a fantasy.</p>
<p>“I’m here. I won’t leave you. Not as long as you want me to stay.”</p>
<p>Link smiles, a doofy, beautiful smile that with time will be able to light up the darkest of room, but now is a single spark fighting to survive. Rhett knows then that even if they hadn’t been soulmates, then he would have fallen in love with him right at that moment.</p>
<p>“My hero,” he whispers, squeezing Rhett’s hand back. He lifts his other hand, to do what Rhett doesn’t know, but probably to touch him the same way that Rhett more than anything wants to touch Link. He seems surprised by the weight of it though and lets it fall back on the bed with a petulant look on his face. Yet he continues with words instead. “My one constant, the one person I’ve always known would never hurt me.”</p>
<p>Rhett gulps a breath, and not able to stop himself he folds his arms around the other and holds Link close, so close. Bordering to be too tight, but Link is right, Rhett could never hurt him. Not since he was six years old and was the fault of what much have been the first major beating Link got. All because a single flower turned up on his skin. But never again.</p>
<p>
  <strong>🌻</strong>
</p>
<p>They’re at the hospital for days, Link being under observation, and Rhett not leaving his side. Stevie tries to make him go home to take a shower, to change his clothes, and to sleep in a more comfortable way, but Rhett refuses her every time. It’s not like he was very good at doing any of those things before meeting Link anyways, and Rhett just can’t leave him there. Not while he’s still looking small and vulnerable and gets uneasy every time Rhett even as much as let’s go of his hand.</p>
<p>And he makes Link meet both Stevie and Cassie. The way he draws back into himself and flinches every time someone makes a movement a little too big, clearly tells how hard that is for him. But he tries, and Rhett can’t ask for more than that. He just hopes that it’ll get better because he doesn’t quite know where else to go after if not back to Stevie’s. It’s not like either of them really has a home of their own, and Link won’t be at the hospital forever.</p>
<p>A lot of the time passes in silence. Link sleeps a lot, and even when he’s awake he’s exhausted. Rhett doesn’t mind, though, because the silence feels comfortable and safe with Link. They do talk a little, mostly Rhett telling the other stories about his home and his family. He talks about going through school and getting into college. He smiles when he tells him about meeting Stevie, his best friend. The stories make Link smile at him, which is why Rhett tries to avoid the less happy stories about depression and all the things he missed in an effort to protect Link. Maybe now they can experience those things together.</p>
<p>Still, Link makes an effort in return and tells him his own less than happy story.</p>
<p>“My dad died when I was only a few weeks old. It hurt my mom a lot, but they weren’t soulmates. She met her soulmate when I was two. I’m told they were happy. That’s it until she got sick and died. I was five. I only remember her a little bit. She had a nice smile and gave the best hugs. Her soulmate was devastated when it happened. He had adopted me by then, we were supposed to be a happy family. He calls me a burden, a waste of space. He hates me, but he wouldn’t let me go because I was a part of her. He moved us here soon after she died, unable to stay in our old house. The beatings started soon after. Sometimes he’d be kind; ‘You look so much like your mother’ he’d whisper, and he’d caress my cheek. He got mean whenever he had been drinking, though. He likes to drink a lot.”</p>
<p>Every word breaks Rhett’s heart, but he holds Link’s hand through all of them.</p>
<p>They talk with the police one of the days. They tell them with so many eye-witnesses then the case is strong. Link's stepfather will like go to jail for quite a few years, and he won't be a bother for them again. There's so much confusion in Link's eyes, but no matter what he feels about the situation then eventually the relief wins out. He's free of the chains that has been holding him down. Now he just needs to figure out the rest. He looks up at Rhett and smiles. </p>
<p>Stevie and Cassie come by a little every day to see to them, and slowly Link becomes more relaxed around them. He smiles when someone tells a joke, and a few times even tries to add something funny himself. Rhett thinks that Link will probably come to like them with time.</p>
<p>“I’m so happy you found him,” Stevie whispers as she hugs him goodbye for the day.</p>
<p>“Me too. So much.”</p>
<p>
  <strong>🌷</strong>
</p>
<p>Link gets released from the hospital a Wednesday morning. He’s got a therapy session scheduled for the next week. When they get outside, both of them just stands there for a bit not quite knowing what to do with themselves. Rhett knows that they’re welcome with Stevie and Cassie, but just then it must become reality for Link that he no longer really has a home.</p>
<p>His hand starts shaking in Rhett’s, and Rhett hears how his breath catches.</p>
<p>“Breathe, Link.” Rhett guides Link to the nearest bench and kneels down in front of him. “Slow and steady.”</p>
<p>It takes a while of Rhett murmuring gentle words before Link slowly calms down, and even then, his hand is clammy and his eyes unfocused.</p>
<p>“You won’t be alone. I promise you do not have to do this on your own. Every step of the way you want me there, I’ll be there. We’ll figure it out, and until we do Stevie and Cassie will help us. We’re not out of the streets, we’ll have food to eat and a place to sleep. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work. Together, alright?”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t seem fair to them,” Link mutters, using the back of his hand to wipe his nose as he sniffles. He then looks at his hand, disgust, and unease obvious on his face. Rhett doesn’t even think. He just uses his own sleeve to clean up Link’s hand in lieu of the tissue he doesn’t have. And the other pulls a face at that, but he also smiles shyly down at Rhett.</p>
<p>He pulls on the edge of Rhett’s dirty sleeve. “Now your shirt needs washing.”</p>
<p>“I know,” and it’s an answer to both his statements and the tone he uses, gentle but also firm enough to make Link listen. “Everyone deserves to have someone there for them. I want to be there for you, and Stevie and Cassie want to be there for us. They’re very stubborn about it too.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Link murmurs, but there’s something in his face and in his tone of voice that clearly states the unsaid. <em>I don’t deserve it.</em> Even if it’ll take him the rest of his life, Rhett will prove him wrong on that. One that he’ll make him realize that he’s worth everything and that nothing his stepdad did or made him feel is right or the truth.</p>
<p>It won’t happen immediately, but for now Rhett will take what he can get, even if that’s only a half-hearted okay.</p>
<p>He calls a taxi and they sit for a few minutes waiting for it to arrive. He’s got a key for the apartment and enough pocket change to get them there. Curtsy of Cassie who had been perceptive enough to realize that perhaps they would be let out of the hospital while she and Stevie weren’t available to drive them.</p>
<p>The taxi comes, and Rhett pulls Link up with him. He opens the door and lets the other get in first. The driver asks where to, and he gives the address. The drive is quiet except for the music playing on the radio. Link slumps against the door, with his head resting against the window. He keeps a steady eye on the surroundings passing by. It isn’t a too long drive, which is good because Rhett is exhausted enough from days sitting in the hospital that the lull of the car could probably have put him to sleep without much trouble. It’s a relief being able to pay the driver and lead Link up the stairs until they finally reach the front door.</p>
<p>It’s necessary to drop Link’s hand to unlock the door, having to use the key and twist the handle at the same time. He pushes the door open and steps aside for Link. The other just stares into the hallway with empty eyes as he twists the fabric of his shirt between his fingers. Rhett lets him have a moment, doesn’t force him inside before he’s ready, but just waits patiently until he’s ready to do so. It’s with hesitant steps and a look towards Rhett, that Link finally does go inside. Rhett understands that it’s a much bigger change for Link than it is for Rhett. A new place, new people, new everything. Owning nothing but the clothes on his back and a ton of awful memories. Having to put so much faith in a stranger, even one that’s your soulmate, must be terrifying. Link is probably the bravest person Rhett has ever met.</p>
<p>Rhett toes of his shoes in the hallway, and after a second Link does the same, neatly putting them beside Rhett’s. He even goes as far as straightening Rhett’s in a quick movement. The way he eyes the rest of the mess indicates that he would very much like to do the same with those, but Rhett gestures for him to come with before he can start.</p>
<p>“Would you like a shower? I can find some of my clothes for you and find something for us to eat while you’re showering,” he offers, suddenly feeling awkward in his own skin.</p>
<p>“Yes, please,” Link says after a second, so Rhett quickly finds something for him to wear, and then shows him the bathroom. He slips out after showing how to work the shower and where the towels are and telling him to use whatever soaps he likes.</p>
<p>The exhaustion is back to smacking him in the face when he reaches the kitchen. Rhett doesn’t remember the last time he cooked anything, having either eaten what Cassie or Stevie made or take out when they didn’t feel like making anything. His limps are heavy, and the thought of even making something as simple as eggs and toast makes him want to curl up in a ball and cry. The last many days have already been so much more for him than he’s really up to. He promised Link food, though, so he forces himself towards the fridge. He could definitely cry at what he finds when he opens it, but this time from happiness.</p>
<p>
  <em>Rhett, for you and Link if you’re back before us. Just a few minutes in the microwave! Go get some sleep after!<br/>-Cassie &amp; Stevie</em>
</p>
<p>The sticky note is sitting on the side of a plastic container meant for the microwave. Taking the lid of revels what are probably leftovers from their dinner last night, but Rhett couldn’t care less that it isn’t even lunchtime yet and that it’s not the most appropriate food for breakfast. He sticks it in the microwave and turns in on. For a minute or two, he just stands there, staring at it. A hand touches his shoulder and he startles, looking back to where Link is standing, hair wet and dressed in Rhett’s clothes. He can’t have been in the shower for even five minutes, but he chooses not to comment on it now. They can talk about it later, that it’s okay not to hurry every step of the way. That he won’t be in the way if he wants to take a long shower every once in a while like every other person.</p>
<p>“You should take a quick shower yourself,” he murmurs, and Rhett nods.</p>
<p>The shower is a sweet relief, and he allows himself to just stand there for a moment, warm water pouring down over him. The shower is a bit short for him, so eventually he quickly washes his hair and body before turning off the water. He’s back out in the kitchen rather fast and sees that Link has already found plates and cutlery for them while he’s been gone. The food is sitting on the table too. Link looks to be far away in thought, but as soon as Rhett steps into the kitchen he looks up at him.</p>
<p>The other plate is on the other side of the table, so Rhett settles in across from where Link is sitting. He fills his own plate, and gestures for Link to do the same. His plate is a whole lot less filled, but Rhett has learned the last few days, even without Link saying so, that the other is a bit of a picky eater.</p>
<p>It’s hard not staring at him like he knows he’s done for days already, but having Link in a space he’s so familiar with, has spent so many hours in, is unreal. Seeing him dressed in clothing that’s a little too big on him, something that’s <em>Rhett’s</em>, is hard to ignore too. So, he keeps glancing at him, before focusing back on his food, trying to not make Link notice the way he can’t keep his eyes away. Maybe he succeeds or maybe Link is just being polite, but either way, he doesn’t comment on it, and just picks his food apart all the while trying to make it look like he isn’t.</p>
<p>After, when they’re done eating and has quickly rinsed the dishes, they nap together on the couch. It’s a tight squeeze, honestly was already before an extra body arrived, but they make do somehow. Link carefully spread on top of Rhett, as to best possible keep his still too broken body from hurting too badly. Rhett is far gone in sleep, not waking up when Stevie nor Cassie comes home. He probably could have slept through the night if it weren’t for Link waking him up for dinner, handing him a plate with food.</p>
<p>“I helped Cassie with cooking,” he says, when Rhett rather disoriented takes the plate. He won’t look at Rhett, though, shoulders tense as he pokes at his own plate.</p>
<p>“I’m sure she appreciated the help,” Rhett says. “Thank you.” The words make Link relax a little.</p>
<p>They settle in together for a movie after eating. Stevie stops by in the doorway, announcing that she and Cassie will be out for a few hours and checks that they’re all set.</p>
<p>They start out with Rhett sitting by the armrest with Link’s body pressed against his side. All evening, though, Link keeps sending him side glances, his face pulling a peculiar frown. His expression would have made Rhett laugh if he wasn’t so worried about the meaning of it. They’re halfway through a movie, and Link has slowly scooted further away from him in the duration. It's first when he’s pressed against the armrest as far away from Rhett as he can get while still being seated on the same couch, he blurts out, “I don’t want to kiss you.” He then promptly makes himself small, while also looking ready to flee if necessary. Rhett hates that he feels it’s something he has to do to express what’s on his mind. Hates that he’s so wired for a backlash that to him it must seem like the only possible result no matter what he does or says.</p>
<p>“Okay?” Rhett says, with a frown. Not because he’s going to disrespect Link’s wish, but because it seems to come out of nowhere. He’d understand it better if he’d made a move to do so, but the only thing he’s done is hold his hand and even that he let go as soon as Link pulled his hand back. “Have I made you uncomfortable? You can tell me if there’s something I do that you don’t like. I won’t get mad.”</p>
<p>“NO! <em>No</em>, you haven’t done anything to make me uncomfortable. You just <em>look</em> at me sometimes, like you want to kiss me. And I know that most soulmates probably has already kissed by now, but I don’t want to. Not yet at least.”</p>
<p>Rhett rearranges himself on the couch, folds his legs under himself, and sits facing Link rather than the TV. “You don’t have to want to kiss me. Not all soulmates want that. Sometimes a soul bond can be platonic. I won’t tell you that I don’t want to kiss you. Should you ever want to, then I’d love to kiss you silly, but only if you want to. I don’t want you to force yourself to want it. Either it happens or it doesn’t. It’s okay either way. It won’t make me care about you any less. Being soulmates doesn’t mean having to give things that you’re not comfortable giving. It just means that we’re best when we’re together.”</p>
<p>“But everyone else-” Link starts, but Rhett shakes his head to stop him.</p>
<p>“We’re not everyone else, Link. We decide what we are to each other, and how we work best together.”</p>
<p>“What if it never happens, though. If I never want to kiss you? If I’ll never want more, like sex or whatever? Will you resent me then?”</p>
<p>“Never.” And Rhett’s mind supplies, <em>If I could never resent you for years of going to hell not knowing when the next bit of pain would turn up, not knowing if you’d even be alive long enough for me to meet you, then I could never resent you for something so minor, something that matters so little in the big scheme of things. </em></p>
<p>Link stares at him for so long, eyes searching over his face. For untruthfulness, for unhappiness, for lies and unsureness. He must not find any of it, because finally, he lets himself relax back against the couch. “Okay,” he says with a nod, accepting Rhett’s promise for the truth.</p>
<p><strong>🏵</strong> <strong>️</strong></p>
<p>Rhett catches Link standing leaning against the doorframe in the mirror just as he pulls a shirt over his face. The material covers up the flowers before on display, but Link doesn’t lose the wistful look on his face as he keeps watching him. Rhett has been so careful to keep as many of the flowers out of sight from the other, as they can’t be anything but a painful reminder.</p>
<p>Part of him expects Link to start freaking out, but he just stands there, staring like he can still see the flowers, like they haven’t been covered up at all.</p>
<p>What he doesn’t expect is the words coming from Link, when he turns around to face him.</p>
<p>“Sometimes I almost thought I didn’t have a soulmate at all. No flowers ever popped up. I wished and I wished, and I wished for them to do so. Just so I’d know. I don’t even know when it showed. It was so pale for so long. A single flower over my heart. The more time that went, the darker it became. For every bruise, it became a little darker. A couple of months ago it became starkly dark. It’s the only one that’s ever been there.”</p>
<p>Link pulls on his own shirt, an oversized long-sleeved shirt that belongs to Rhett. It’s big enough that he can pull it down enough to display the single flower sitting over his heart. A pronounced rose that looks almost identical to one Rhett has on his own chest.</p>
<p>“It’s not the first one.” Rhett bites his lip, winces with the memory. “I bruised my nose when I was six. That was the first time you got a beating.”</p>
<p>Link’s eyes go wide, horrified by his words. Rhett fears that he’ll pull away, that the knowledge that it all started out because of Rhett will be too much for the other. That Link being connected to Rhett is the reason that his life has been so miserable. If only Rhett had taken better care of himself, if he hadn’t fallen over and hurt himself that day, then maybe Link’s stepfather wouldn’t have come to a point where the only worth he found in a boy he had once loved was as a punching bag.</p>
<p>Instead of pulling away, he’s suddenly got Link slammed against him, arms folding around him tightly. It must hurt his ribs that are still healing, Rhett thinks absently, but Link doesn't as much as make a sound to confirm it. He just holds Rhett close, and his voice is shaken when he speaks. </p>
<p>“What an awful thing to put on a child. My stepfather was not your fault. That first beating was <em>not</em> your fault. Every beating after that wasn’t either. It’s not on you, and never has been. You were a <em>child</em>, and that burden should never have been yours to carry. Whoever made you think otherwise was wrong, Rhett. I don’t want you to be terrified of living. Never again.”</p>
<p>A sob shakes through Rhett’s body, and he clings to Link. Clings as if his life depends on it, and Link clings right back.</p>
<p>Rhett can’t quite believe him, not after having spent most of his life being convinced that the opposite was the truth. After all, then Link isn’t the only one who needs healing. And the words, while not an instant cure of every insecurity and every fear Rhett has ever lived under, then they’re a crack in the wall. A start. Words that needed saying, words that he needed to hear.</p>
<p>“We’ll live together.”</p>
<p>“We’ll keep each other brave,” Link agrees, and he rests his forehead against Rhett’s. They just breathe, knowing that from now on they can fight for each other. For each other and for themselves.</p>
<p>
  <strong>🌼</strong>
</p>
<p>The doctor was right. Being with Link isn’t always easy. It requires so much patience. It takes days curled together on the couch in Stevie’s apartment, both of them unable to move or to do anything. Those days are hard for all of them. It takes Rhett walking with Link to therapy and waiting for him outside even though it takes so much energy from him too. His own therapy says that’s normal. Of course, it’ll be exhausting for him, after all, then he too has a lot he’s still working through.</p>
<p>Knowing that helps somewhat, but there are still days where Rhett has to give up and ask Stevie if she’s able to drive them because otherwise, they wouldn’t get anywhere. If Rhett ever doubted before, then he doesn’t now with how devoted of a friend she is because she keeps helping them as much as she’s able, and Rhett will never be able to repay her for her kindness.</p>
<p>Sometimes Link is short in temper, his words a little too sharp. Other times he’s mum for days, not even talking to Rhett. Rhett hates those days more than when he’s angry. All there’s to do for him is let Link know that he’s here for him.</p>
<p>One of the quiet days results in Link hiding away a bit too long in the bathroom. New flowers turn up on Rhett’s skin for the first time in a while, and Rhett cries, trembling as he almost knocks down the bathroom door. Link is there quickly, white in the face as he opens the door and immediately holds Rhett in his arms, murmuring ‘<em>sorry</em>’s and ‘<em>I’m alright</em>’s. Rhett cleans the wounds. They aren’t deep, but they’re still a smash in the face, a reminder that recovery isn’t a simple straight line, but that it’s got curves and bumps and so much heartache.</p>
<p>Link is so strong, too; Rhett is amazed at him. A couple of months after being released from the hospital, he stubbornly says that he’s going to find a job, and he won’t listen even when Rhett asks if he’s sure he’s ready. It ends up being part-time at the bookstore a couple of blocks away from them. He works for a sweet old lady who’s just about the most understanding boss in the world. The books make him interested in learning, and at some point, he convinces Rhett to sneak into an evening lecture at the college nearby. They sit in the back, Link so interested in the lecture, and Rhett spending the entire time watching the other fondly. It won’t be the last time they do so, every once in a while sneaking into random lectures.</p>
<p>It’ll take a while longer for Rhett to get back to his job, and especially to be able to work like he used to, but it happens as most thing does for them; slowly and with time. Just as one day they won’t any longer be dependent on Stevie and Cassie’s kind hearts. Their first apartment will be shit, but it’ll be theirs.  </p>
<p>The first time they have an argument and Rhett raises his voice in frustration, Link flinches away from him, ducking like he’s expecting to be hit. Link is trembling, and it takes hours before he’s okay enough that Rhett is allowed to touch him. Hours for that and then several therapy sessions for Rhett to come to a point where he can let go of the guilt long enough to hug Link without beating himself up about it.</p>
<p>That day seems to open up for new things for them. Link will be slipping away in thoughts for a while but shortly after their argument he’ll ask him if he’s still interested in kissing him, and Rhett will tell him the same thing he did when they first talked about it<em>; yeah, but only if you want it too</em>. And he does, and Rhett finally gets to make good of his promise to kiss him silly. First so softly, keeping an eye on the other to make sure he’s okay with it. Then when he’s assured that Link is more than fine with it, deeper and playfully until they’re both breathless.</p>
<p>Link giggles against his lips and Rhett blurts out, “<em>I love you</em>.”</p>
<p>“I know,” Link replies, eyes going soft. “And I you. So much.”</p>
<p>One day Rhett will fall and take off with his hand. The skin scrapes leaving a bit of a wound behind. And Rhett freaks out, expecting for the small scrape to result in another huge beating. In so many flowers added to his skin. He can’t breathe, not until Link touches him, eyes worried but also delighted. It’s okay, Link is still here, still safe with him. It doesn’t matter anymore if Rhett bumps into something, or stumbles over his own feet. A bruise or a scrape will no longer result in a huge amount of pain for both of them.</p>
<p>For days afterwards until the cut finally heals up, Link spends so much time looking at his hand, amazed at the single flower that sits there, just as Rhett has sometimes caught him looking at the flower over his heart.</p>
<p>That’s when he realizes that the flowers mean something different to Link that they do to Rhett. For Rhett, they’re pain and worry. For Link, they’re a reminder that he isn’t alone in the world. That Rhett is his and he’s Rhett’s, and that he really does have a soulmate even when he went so many years believing he didn’t.</p>
<p>The next time it happens, the freak out is still there, but less. It helps that afterwards Link always smiles like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world. And one day, a while down the road, he won’t notice a bruise until Link happily shows him the flower corresponding. That will cause a bit of a freak-out, but later he’ll smile curled up against Link, knowing that it means that he’s healing. That both of them are.</p>
<p>And while not every flower on Rhett’s skin will disappear, then the one over his heart, the one that matches the single flower on Link’s skin, is different. Both of those flowers, his and Link’s will fade. Slowly, but surely. With ups and downs, but none the less fading. And one day, a long while down the road, Rhett will be able to kiss Link, only a ghost of a flower over his heart, a wound turned to the faintest of scars. He kisses him with so much happiness, knowing that it means that finally Link too is free.</p>
<p>The End <strong>🌹</strong></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you got this far, thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated if you wanna :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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